ASHT Founder Evelyn Mackin's Work in Hand Therapy Still Guides Specialty
At 90 years old, Evelyn Mackin has the rare pleasure of seeing her life’s work continue to grow and reach new heights.
Now retired as a resident of Friends Village in Woodstown, N.J., Mackin worked alongside talented physical therapists and surgeons to develop hand therapy as a specialty. She later worked as an editor for the textbook titled “Rehabilitation of the Hand,” which is still considered the authoritative text by many professionals in the realm of hand surgery and rehabilitation.
The sixth edition of the textbook was recently released, and it was dedicated to Mackin for her expertise and tireless efforts to establish hand therapy as a specialty. Full article
ASHT Represented at AOTA Capital Hill Day
ASHT’s primary objectives for joining AOTA’s September Hill Day were to represent our position on the Medicare Outpatient Therapy Caps and on the Sustainable Growth Rate fix or fee schedule. At the onset of planning, AOTA’s focus was to get members of the house and senate to support S.829/HR.1546, which would repeal the therapy caps. Due to the more recent debt ceiling/super committee discussions, it became apparent that anything that cost money would be off the table, and that no politician was likely to sign his or her name to any proposal. As a result, the focus changed to advocating for the two issues to be considered together rather than separately.
Our e-mail and letter writing campaigns have significant weight. Expect to see a follow-up request in the coming weeks. We are counting on your support.
Students Inspired by Service Work in Guatemala
Rebecca von der Heyde, PhD, OTR/L, CHT, associate professor of occupational therapy, has traveled with her students to Guatemala on medical mission trips with the Guatemala Healing Hands Foundation for the past six years. This summer, however, she brought along additional Maryville companions.
In partnership with Cynthia Briggs, PsyD, director of Maryville's music therapy program, and three other faculty members, von der Heyde visited Antigua, Guatemala, with 13 music therapy and occupational therapy students for a groundbreaking, cross-disciplinary service learning trip. Full article
Tendon Injury Can't Stop McIlroy
Irishman returns to play second round after suffering painful injury at PGA Championship.
In 2010 the Wound, Ostomy and Continence Nurses Society (WOCN) embarked on a comprehensive fundraising initiative: Raising $200,000 in scholarship funds to support the continued education of WOC nurses. WOCN asked ASHT President Jerry Coverdale to write guest posts for the WOCN Cycling for Scholarships blog, cyclingforscholarships.blogspot.com, because of his hand therapy expertise and his interest in biking.
Please check in and comment on Jerry's posts. cyclingforscholarships.blogspot.com/2011/03/jerry-outspoken-hands-together-for.html
This is excellent visibility for ASHT and hand therapy. We hope you will participate and share your expertise and ideas about hand and upper extremity health for long-distance cyclists.
First National Hand Therapy Conference, India
The Society for Hand Therapy, India (ISHT) held its first National Hand Therapy Conference, December 3-5 in Mumbai, India. US hand therapist, Manisha Sharma, OTR/L, CHT presented a device to treat finger fractures.
Cayuga Hand Therapy
Sue Michlovitz, ASHT Vice President is in the news.
Read full story.
Barbara Winthrop Rose, ASHT Board Member-at-Large is in the news.
Read full story.
Ed Keeling and Catherine Cambridge collected 200 crutches for earthquake victims in Haiti
For Ed Keeling, recycling is about more than improving the environment – it’s an opportunity to help people in need. Keeling, of The Highlands, and his wife, Catherine Cambridge, recently delivered a U-Haul truck full of crutches, walkers and wheel chairs to a Pittsburgh charity that will deliver the goods to victims of the earthquake in Haiti.
One of Cambridge’s coworkers at Dynamic Physical Therapy started collecting mobility equipment after the earthquake, Keeling said, and it seemed like such a good idea that he decided to start collecting, too. “It occurred to me that all over New Castle County there are crutches, canes and wheel chairs cluttering up people’s attics and basements,” he said. “They were used one time and they’d never be used again.”
In January, he started asking everyone he knew – even the mailman – to donate old mobility equipment. About 20 percent of the people he spoke with had something they could donate, he said, and after four months of collecting, Keeling had amassed 200 crutches, 20 walkers, seven wheel chairs and three Rollators (a cross between a walker and a wheel chair). He and his wife loaded up a truck, drove to Pittsburgh and donated the equipment to Global Links, a charity that collects and ships discarded mobility equipment all over the third world. “I can’t think of a better feeling than to take all these things that were just sitting in basements and ultimately giving them to somebody who can’t get around,” he said. But Keeling has no intention of stopping his collection. He is asking anyone with unwanted mobility equipment to e-mail him at crutchestohaiti@gmail.com and he will schedule a pickup.
ASHT Members – Please submit your story to asht@asht.org when you celebrate:
- awards
- grants
- special community recognition
- starting a new program that generates community interest
- climbing Mount Everest…
